Guide for weft-picking means in a loom

ABSTRACT

The guide is constructed of a plurality of guide elements which are individually shaped to provide at least one of the total number of guide surfaces forming the guide path for the picking means. The individual guide elements are spaced apart in alternating manner so that the weft-picking means contacts a minimum of guide surfaces in passing through the guide.

United States Patent Inventors Erwin Pfarrwaller Winterthur, Switzerland;

Anton Xaver lnglin, Zuchwil, Switzerland Appl. No. 781,850 Filed Dec. 6, 1968 Patented Jan. 19, 1971 Assignee Sulur Brothers, Lld.

' Winterthur, Switzerland a corporation of Switzerland GUIDE FOR WEFT-PICKING MEANS IN A LOOM 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 139/188,

139/ 126 Int. Cl D03d 49/60,

- D03d 49/00 Field ofSearch 139/188,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,039,454 5/ 1936 Rossrnann 139/ l 88UX 2,316,703 4/1943 Moessinger 139/188 2,675,027 4/1954 Wakefield 139/188 2,699,185 l/1955 Pusateri 139/188 2,833,315 5/1958 Dunham..... 139/188 3,075,560 1/1963 Pfarrwaller 139/188 Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi Attorney-Kenyon, Kenyon, Reilly, Carr & Chapin ABSTRACT: The guide is constructed of a plurality of guide elements which are individually shaped. to provide at least one of the total number of guide surfaces forming the guide path for the picking means. The individual guide elements are spaced apart in alternating manner so that the weft-picking means contacts a minimum of guide surfaces in passing through the guide.

GUIDE FOR WEIET-PICKING MEANS IN A LOOM This invention relates to a guide for weft-picking means in a loom. More particularly, this invention relates to a guide comprised of a plurality of guide elements for picking a weftpicking means across a loo'm.

I-Ieretofore, looms havebeen provided with guide elements for guiding a weft-picking means such as a shuttle through a shed. In many instances, these guide elements have required a precise mounting on the loom so 'asto accurately define a guide for the picking means. Also, the guide elements have .been formed with a foot portion and a pair of jaws which define a guide path for the shuttle. 'Thefoot portions and the sections connecting the foot portions have generally been of relatively large cross sections whilethe jaws havehad cross sections which diminish continuouslyor intermittently in the direction of the free ends of the jaws. Consequently, the jaws and foot have been particularly ri'gid'in 'a plane perpendicular to the direction of travel of the shuttle. As a result, the vibration of the travelling shuttle through the guide element as well as the forces arising transversely'relative to the trajectory of the shuttle when the shuttle changes direction slightly during picking have been absorbed only to a limited extent, if at all.

Further, because of a lack of capability in absorbing these transverse forces, the shuttle as well as the guide element have been subjected to excessive abrading.. This has resulted not only in frequent replacement of the guide elements and shuttle but also in thedepositing of unwanted abraded metal particles on the cloth or weft or warp yarns in the-loom. This latter disadvantage has not usually caused a great deal of concert with cloths made of natural fibers as the abradedparticles have penetrated between the fibers of the yarns into the thickness of the cloth and have become barely visible. However, this disadvantage has been particularly acute in the case of synthetic yarns since the abraded metal du'st hasbecome embedded in the warp or weft yarns and has often resulted in shadows or other soiling in the cloth. l i

In order to overcome these above disadvantages, guides have been constructed with guide-elements which are capable of absorbing the vibrational and other transverse forces of the weft-picking rneians. These guide elements have been identical in construction'and have been made with jaws thatextend sub- 1 stantially all around the fpicking rneans'. Further, each guide elementhas been provided with the same number of guide surfaces, for example, three, which come into "contact with the picking means. Where three guide surfaces have been used,

two of thesurfaces come into contact with lowerjcoopera'ting surfaces on thejpi cking means from below while thethird surface comesinto contact with an upper cooperating surface on .the picking means from above. H l 2 However, since the guide elements-have a number of points of contact with the picking meansand are identical, metal abrasions at the guide surfaces of the guide elements has .been relatively great. Further, as these guide elements require a precise transverse adjustment to define the guide path for the picking means, specially devised mounting assemblies or very accurate mounting of these guide elements have been needed.

Accordingly, it is an object of thevinvention to reduce the number of guide surfaces in a guide for a weft-picking means.

It is another object, of the invention to reduce abrasion between a weft-picking means and a guide therefor. o

It is another object of the invention to reduce the frictional drag on a weft-picking means in passing through a guide in a loom. v

Briefly, the invention provides a guide formed of a plurality of guide elements which contain a number of guide surfaces less than the total number of cooperating surfaces on the picking means. That is, the guide is made up of guide elements having different numbers of guidesurfaces, for example, one or two.

The guide of the invention substantially reduces the number of points of contact between the picking means and guide elements during picking, for example, by half over other known guides. Consequently, thereis less metal abrasion at the guide elements and picking means, so that thewarps and wefts and the cloth are soiled less. This is particularly important in the case of fabrics made from synthetic yarns, since in these fabrics the individual threads consist of a' large number of continuous, absolutely smooth, separate fibrils (elementary filamerits) lying close together and the metal particles settle not between the threads but on the surface of the fabric, so that soiling, as experience has shown, is very obvious in the finished cloth.

Further, as the number of contact points are reduced, the

picking means loses less speed during picking. Consequently,

gripper shuttle loom having a guide according to the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a fragmentary view taken in the direction of arrow 7I.of FIG. 5 of a guide according to the invention; FIG. 3'illustrates a view of a guide element of the guide of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a view of anotherv guide element of the guide of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the guide of FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 1,- the gripper shuttle loom, as is known, has a base consisting of two uprights 21 and longitudinal supports 22,23; In addition, a warp beam 24 is mounted in the loom' base to deliver warp yarns 25 over a tension beam 26 and through a warp stop motion 27 to a shed 29. The shed 29 the loom'directs the cloth 19 which is is formed by heald shafts 31 which are operated by a suitable known drive mechanism 32, for example, an eccentric machine. Further, a sley 34 which ca'rries'a reed 33 and a shuttle guide 35 in front of the reed, as shown, is driven by a loom driving shaft 40 via a sley shaft 41 in a known manner in an arcuate path 28 relative to the shed 29. The shuttle guide 35 is made up of a fairly large number of guide elements 42, 52

which define a guide path for a gripper shuttle (49, FIG. 5) which is to be shot along the shuttle guide 35 into the shed 29 when the shuttle guide 35 is moved into the shed 29. Finally, formed over suitable rolls 37,38 onto'a cloth beam 39. i I

Referring to FIGS.2 and 5, the shuttle guide elements 42,

"52 arefixed to the sley 34"by'any-suitable means such as bracket-shapedlholders 44 and screws 45 and are each disposed in 'a plane transverse to the trajectory path of the gripper shuttle 49 as well asthe shed. The guide elements are formed as hook-shaped guide elements42 and forked guide elements 52 each of which is formed with a foot 67 which serves to permit mounting within the bracket 44 on the sley 34. As shown, the guide elements 42, 52 are mounted in alternating manner on the sley 34. i

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, each'hook-shaped guide element 42 is also formed with an upstanding hook of about an inverted L-shape which extends from the foot 67. The hook contains a leg 53 which overlies the path of the picking means 49 (as viewed in FIG. 4 in chain line) and which has a portion 15 of relatively wide cross section B containing a guide surface 54 for contacting the upper cooperating surface 55 of the picking means 49 e.g. a gripper shuttle). The hook also contains a leg 53 integral with the foot 67 which contains a portion 10 adjacent the foot 67 of relatively small cross section A in a plane 63 relative to the remainder of the hook. This hookshaped guide element 42 serves to prevent the shuttle for face 62 which guides another cooperating surface 63 of the shuttle 49 from below. Further, the support head 56 has a portion 12 containing a cross section D in a plane 64 of small cross section relative to the cross section C beside the guide surface 58 in portion 14. Similarly, the support prong 57 has a portion 11 containing a relatively small cross section F in a plane 65 which is substantially less than the cross section E of the portion 13 containing the guide surface 62. The forked guide element 52 serves to support the shuttle 49 during passage along the guide path defined by the respective guide surfaces of the guide elements 42, 52.

As a result of the reductions in cross sections (A, D, F) in the respective portions 10, 12, 11 of the guide elements 42, 52, the leg 53, head 56 and prong 57 can pivot slightly backwards and forwards transversely to the path of the shuttle 49 as indicated by the arrows 72, 73, 74 in FIGS. 3 and 4 if the shuttle 49 tends slightly to alter its trajectory. The forces generated by the shuttle can thus be resiliently absorbed by the guide elements 42, 52 so as to reduce metal abrasion at the guide surfaces 54, 58, 62 and cooperating shuttle surfaces 55, 61, 64.

The forked guide element can be modified so that the guide surfaces 58, 62 of the support prong 57 and support head 56 are formed on separate guide elements. In this case, the sequence of guide elements may, for example, be such that a hook-shaped guide element 42 is followed by a support head 56 attached to a special guide element foot 67, and then a support prong 57 attached to another foot 67, followed by another guide hook 42 and so on. That is, the guide surfaces 54, 58, 62 are provided on three separate guide elements.

In another variant, the guide surfaces 54, 58, for example, may be provided on one guide element and the guide surface 62 on another guide element.

The sequence of guide elements 42, 52 shown in FIG. 5 may also be varied, for example, by inserting at intervals a guide element which has all three guide surfaces 54, 58, 62, i.e. in which the support head 56 is extended upwardly into the hook-shaped leg 53 as shown in chain lines in FIG. 4.

In another alternative, for example, two successive forked guide elements 52 may be followed by a hook-shaped guide element 42, then two forked guide elements 52 and then again a hooked-shaped guide element 42, and so on.

The cross section of the hook-shaped guide element 42 may be reduced in a portion between the legs of the hook, for example, instead of the portion 10 adjacent the foot 67. In this case, the cross section 10 may have the value A, as indicated in the variant shown with broken lines in FIG. 3.

The invention thus provides a guide constructed of a number of different guide elements wherein each guide element has a number of guide surfaces less than the total number of cooperating surfaces on the picking means, i.e. shuttle. Consequently, due to the reduction in the number of contact points there is less wear and abrasion on the guide elements which are usually of metal and the shuttle. Also, the speed of the shuttle is not opposed by as great a frictional drag as would otherwise occur. Thus, the time of a pick is reduced allowing the picking rate to be increased.

We claim: 1 l. A guide for a weft-picking means in a loom comprising: a shuttle guide having a plurality of guide elements com- .monly mounted thereon for guiding the picking means in a guide path, at least some of said guide elements having a number of guide surfaces thereon less than the total number of cooperating surfaces of the picking means; and wherein some of said guide elements have only guide surfaces thereon for contacting lower cooperating surfaces of the picking means from below and others of said guide elements have only guide surfaces thereon for contacting upper cooperating surfaces of the picking means from above. I 2. A guide as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said guide elements has a pair of upwardly projecting supports, each said support containing one of said guide surfaces for guiding the picking means from below on the lower cooperating surfaces thereof.

3. A guide as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said guide elements has a hook containing a leg overlying said guide path, said leg containing one of said guide surfaces for guiding the picking means from above on the upper cooperating surface thereof.

4. A guide as set forth in claim I wherein some of said guide elements contain only guide surfaces for contacting the picking means from below and others of said guide elements contain only guide surfaces for contacting the picking means from above, said some of said others of said guide elements being arranged in alternating manner in said guide path.

5. A guide as set forth in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein said guide elements containing said guide surfaces have a foot for mounting of said guide elements in a loom and a portion of less cross section than the portions containing said guide surfaces said portions of less cross section being disposed between said guide surfaces and said foot.

6. A guide as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said guide elements is hook-shaped and contains a leg overlying said guide path and having a guide surface for contacting an upper cooperating surface of the picking means, and at least one of said guide elements is forked and contains an upstanding support head having a guide surface for contacting a first lower cooperating surface of the picking means and an upstanding support prong having a guide surface for contacting a second lower cooperating surface of the picking means.

7. A guide as set forth in claim 6 wherein said hook-shaped guide element and said forked guide elements are arranged in alternating manner with respect to each other along said guide path.

8. A guide as set forth in claim 6 wherein each said hookshaped guide element and forked guide element contain a portion of less cross section than the portions containing said guide surfaces whereby said guide surface are resiliently mounted in a plane transverse to said guide path.

9. A guide as set forth in claim 6 wherein each of said guide elements includes an integral depending foot. 

1. A guide for a weft-picking means in a loom comprising: a shuttle guide having a plurality of guide elements commonly mounted thereon for guiding the picking means in a guide path, at least some of said guide elements having a number of guide surfaces thereon less than the total number of cooperating surfaces of the picking means; and wherein some of said guide elements have only guide surfaces thereon for contacting lower cooperating surfaces of the picking means from below and others of said guide elements have only guide surfaces thereon for contacting upper cooperating surfaces of the picking means from above.
 2. A guide as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said guide elements has a pair of upwardly projecting supports, each said support containing one of said guide surfaces for guiding the picking means from below on the lower cooperating surfaces thereof.
 3. A guide as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said guide elements has a hook containing a leg overlying said guide path, said leg containing one of said guide surfaces for guiding the picking means from above on the upper cooperating surface thereof.
 4. A guide as set forth in claim 1 wherein some of said guide elements contain only guide surfaces for contacting the picking means from below and others of said guide elements contain only guide surfaces for contacting the picking means from above, said some of said others of said guide elements being arranged in alternating manner in said guide path.
 5. A guide as set forth in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein said guide elements containing said guide surfaces have a foot for mounting of said guide elements in a loom and a portion of less cross section than the portions containing said guide surfaces said portions of less cross section being disposed between said guide surfaces and said foot.
 6. A guide as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said guide elements is hook-shaped and contains a leg overlying said guide path and having a guide surface for contacting an upper cooperating surface of the picking means, and at least one of said guide elements is forked and contains an upstanding support head having a guide surface for contacting a first lower cooperating surface of the picking means and an upstanding support prong having a guide surface for contacting a second lower cooperating surface of the picking means.
 7. A guide as set forth in claim 6 wherein said hook-shaped guide element and said forked guide elements are arranged in alternating manner with respect to each other along said guide path.
 8. A guide as set forth in claim 6 wherein each said hook-shaped guide element and forked guide element contain a portion of less cross section than the portions containing said guide surfaces whereby said guide surface are resiliently mounted in a plane transverse to said guide path.
 9. A guide as set forth in claim 6 wherein each of said guide elements includes an integral depending foot. 